The present invention relates generally to eye protection devices and, more particularly, to an eye shielding apparatus and method for attachment to a pair of eyeglasses providing shielding in a region peripheral to the wearer's head.
In most industrial environments, safety glasses are required for eye protection. Safety glasses are typically constructed and configured as goggles which fit tightly to the user's face or in a manner similar to conventional eyeglasses. With regard to the latter, a frame is provided which rests on the user's face and includes two lens-bearing apertures fitted with non-correcting, substantially shatterproof lenses. Two support members, known as temples, extend rearwardly from the lens-bearing frame portion to rest on a wearer's ears for supporting the eyeglasses on a user's head. To protect the aforesaid peripheral region, side shields are typically permanently mounted to the frame. Generally, most industrial plant workers will have their own safety glasses, while additional safety glasses are maintained "on-site" for use by visitors.
Problems arise, however, when a person wearing vision correcting eyeglasses must use safety glasses. Although the aforesaid goggle-types will typically fit over a pair of eyeglasses, vision may be distorted or the goggle types may be unavailable. Often, a person will have to rely on their own eyeglasses for protection, and while conventional eyeglasses may provide protection in front of the eyes with the lenses, most conventional eyeglasses do not have shields formed on, or mounted to, the sides thereof, so that a region peripheral to the wearer's head and rearwardly of the lens-bearing frame of the eyeglasses is left exposed and unprotected. Accordingly, there exists a need for a supplemental side shield which can be attached to most conventional eyeglass frames to provide protection in the peripheral region.
Lindblom U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,066 teaches a supplemental eye shield molded to curve around a specific singular lens shape which is attached to the temples of a conventional pair of eyeglasses using rivets.
Liautaud et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,761 teaches side shields which are attachable to a conventional pair of eyeglasses, and which are easily mounted thereto. However, the shields of Liautaud et al require a specially designed instrument to remove the shields and do not provide complete coverage in the area near the lenses.
Bennett U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,679 teaches detachable side shields for eyeglasses which have a mounting arrangement molded therein. The Bennett shields are configured for use with a singular eyeglass frame configuration with respect to temple size and lens curvature.
Hinrichs U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,075 teaches disposable side shields for eyeglasses which are held to the frames using adhesive.
Known side shields are not configured for ease of manufacture and packaging and are not readily adaptable to a wide variety of eyeglasses without substantial structural modifications.